Propane gas ranges that are capable of operating in remote or “off-grid” areas that do not have access to electricity are known. Traditional propane gas ranges generally include a cook-top or cooking surface with various cooking elements or burners as well as an oven cavity or compartment equipped with a baking element capable of generating heat and directing it upwards through the oven cavity. A separate broil drawer has traditionally been provided at the base or bottom of the gas range appliance underneath the oven compartment. Broil drawers arranged at the bottom of the appliance underneath the oven compartment have been known to be inconvenient and awkward to use.
Traditional electric, on-grid appliances, whether they are on-grid gas ranges or purely electric ranges, also generally include a cook-top or cooking surface with multiple elements or burners and an oven compartment. In on-grid appliances, however, the oven compartment is generally equipped with both a bake element as well as a broil element, commonly referred to as a waist-high broiler, which is generally considered to be convenient and easy to use. Waist-high broilers have not been available to users in off-grid applications for various reasons. For instance, off-grid gas ranges were at one time equipped with standing pilots, the gas range relying on the standing pilots for operation of the heating elements or burners associated with the gas range. While standing pilots were acceptable for use with the burners provided on the cooking surface, difficulties were encountered when attempting to equip the oven compartment with both a baking element (arranged at the bottom of the oven cavity) and a waist-high broiling element arranged a the top of the oven compartment since whenever one of the heating elements was in use, the products of combustion associated with either the baking element or baking burner or the broiling element or broiling burner would have the tendency to snuff-out the standing pilot associated with the element or burner not in use. This was considered to be inconvenient and unacceptable for users since the process of re-lighting the standing pilots was considered difficult and cumbersome. It was for this reason that wait-high broilers were not incorporated into the oven compartment of off-grid gas range appliances. By arranging the broiling element in a separate broil drawer, the problem of snuffing-out the standing pilot associated with the burner not in use was avoided since the standing pilots were arranged in different compartments of the gas range appliance.
Safety regulations eventually mandated the elimination of standing pilots. While the issue of snuffing-out the standing pilots associated with a baking element and broiling element was no longer one of the main challenges associated with incorporating a waist-high broiler into an off-grid gas range appliance, incorporating a waist-high broiler into the oven compartment while meeting specific safety regulations mandated by the off-grid industry still proved to be challenging with manufacturers still opting for a separate broil drawer feature or simply eliminating the broil feature from the gas range appliance altogether.
The convenience and functionality of a waist-high broiler as is known in conventional on-grid appliances cannot be denied. Accordingly, there has been a long-standing need and desire to incorporate a waist-high broiler into the oven compartment of an off-grid gas range appliance while meeting the specific safety regulations mandated by the industry so as to afford users and/or customers in the off-grid market the same convenience and functionality provided to on-grid users/customers.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved off-grid gas range that incorporates a boil feature that is convenient to use and cost-effective to manufacture that also meets and maintains specific design requirements as well as specific government mandated safety standards for off-grid appliances.